Relationship of In-Hospital Medication Modifications of Elderly Patients to Postdischarge Medications, Adherence, and Mortality

Abstract

Background: Medication regimens are constantly modified and updated during a patient's hospitalization. These modifications and those made after discharge might increase the risk for nonadherence, polypharmacy, and poor outcomes among elderly patients. Objectives: To investigate the extent of in-hospital modification of medication regimens of elderly patients and its relationship to medication adherence as well as one-month postdischarge drug regimen modifications and to examine the relationship of the modifications, adherence, and polypharmacy to mortality and readmissions 3 months postdischarge. Methods: Clinical and demographic data, postdischarge medication modifications, and adherence were prospectively obtained in 212 elderly patients. Inhospital drug regimen modifications were retrospectively recorded. Results: The average ± SD in-hospital medication regimen modification rate was 49.8% ± 28.4. No modifications were found in 9.7% of the patients. Using demographic and clinical parameters, we performed regression analysis and found that patients who were admitted with polypharmacy, discharged home, and cognitively normal experienced fewer medication modifications (p conclusions: Hospitalization of elderly patients is characterized by extensive medication regimen modifications, which are directly correlated with postdischarge modifications and may indicate an increased risk of mortality.